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O'Fallon Township High School

O'Fallon Township High School is a public secondary school in O'Fallon, Illinois. In 2009, OTHS was ranked 49th out of the top 100 high schools in Illinois by the Chicago Sun Times.[citation needed]

As of 2023, it is the second largest public high school in Illinois by enrollment outside of the Chicago area (Belleville High School-East being the largest).[3]

History

OTHS Crest
OTHS Crest

The first high school was founded in 1901 as a two-year school by William R. Dorris, who became the first principal, according to Brian Keller of the O’Fallon Historical Society. In 1900, the city had built a new building to serve as the elementary school. Room 10 was set aside for the high school studies. The first graduating class in 1903 had only five members. In 1920, O’Fallon’s high school officially became OTHS of District 203, and the original school song, “Blue and Old Gold”, was first sung at graduation in 1925.

The school's mascot is the Panther, for which the 1934 basketball team takes credit for choosing. The basketball team visited a sports store in 1934 and was impressed by the large picture of a panther in the store’s display window, according to Mr. George Bender, class of 1937. The team, not having a mascot of their own yet, liked the idea of using the panther. By November 1934, the team was nicknamed the Panthers, a name which would eventually represent the entire school.

As stated in the 1962 edition of The Panther, the symbology on O'Fallon Township High School's crest reflects the town's rich history of farming, industry, and coal mining.[4] Today, the school's coat of arms/crest can be found in the Smiley Campus's 600 hallway on a bronze plaque gifted by the Class of 1961.

After a short tenure as an assistant principal, longtime teacher Rich Bickel became the principal in 2009, following the retirement of Steve Dirnbeck who served as the school's principal from 2003-2009.[5]

Campuses

The current main campus (Smiley), which houses grades 10-12 (sophomores, juniors, and seniors), was built and opened in 1958. Also, the district expanded the main campus by extending the street-side hallway, thus adding another hallway stretching the length of the school along with multiple new classrooms.

The district completed construction on the strictly 9th grade or freshman campus (Milburn) in the summer of 2009. The two campuses are about 10–15 minutes apart. The first class to attend the Milburn campus was the class of 2013.

Extracurricular activities

Sports

The Panthers compete in the Southwestern Conference.


Other extracurricular activities

Team achievements

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ USGS Detail, U.S. Geological Survey
  2. ^ a b c "O Fallon High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  3. ^ "2024 Largest Public High Schools In Illinois". Niche. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
  4. ^ OTHS Yearbook Club (1962). The Panther.
  5. ^ "Outgoing principal helped shaped big changes at OTHS". STLtoday.com. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  6. ^ "IHSA Boys Baseball All-Time Records". Archived from the original on 2006-11-01. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  7. ^ "Illinois HR262". trackbill.com. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Records & History". www.ihsa.org. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  9. ^ "IHSA Competitive Cheerleading Results 2008". www.ihsa.org. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  10. ^ "IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament Scores". www.ihsa.org. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  11. ^ "2015-2016 Results and Awards". OTHS Band. OTHS Band Boosters. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  12. ^ "St. Louis, MO 2023". BOA Marching Championships. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  13. ^ "2010 Championships". mccga.org. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  14. ^ "IHSA Boys Cross Country Class 3A State Final Results 2010". www.ihsa.org. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  15. ^ "IHSA Boys Cross Country Class 3A State Final Results 2011". www.ihsa.org. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  16. ^ "IHSA Team Titles: O". www.ihsa.org. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  17. ^ "IHSA Boys Cross Country Class 3A State Final Results". www.ihsa.org. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  18. ^ Records & History
  19. ^ "Bob Cryder visits his "House" at Fulton Jr. High". O'Fallon Weekly. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019. The famous Bob Cryder, an O'Fallon Township High School graduate ...
  20. ^ "O'Fallon Library completes remodel, holds dedication ceremony". O'Fallon Weekly. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2019. Fuchs, who passed in 2009, was a class of 1950 graduate of O'Fallon Township High School.
  21. ^ Reynolds, Dave. "O'Fallon has a basketball Jones". Journal Star. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  22. ^ Palmer, Tod (September 5, 2017). "O'Fallon's McCann refocused after hard freshman season at Mizzou". Belleville News-Democrat. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  23. ^ Eschman, Todd (July 13, 2016). "Shiloh's Sanchez wins TV show finale and contract with UFC". Belleville News-Democrat. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  24. ^ "O'Fallon Homecoming offered pleasant end of summer celebration". STL Today. August 14, 2008. Retrieved March 9, 2022.